Gisei
by Catachresis
Summary: What kind of being could tear apart humanity at its threads? Victim knows the answer, and is willing to use it to win the war.
1. Find

Disclaimer: I don't own pilot candidate or any of the characters. I do own the things that I make up and you'll know who and what they are soon enough.  
  
  
  
**Chapter 1 Copy  
**  
"Hey, guys!" Rioroute called happily to the 5-goddess pilots. The smile on his face drooped instantly when he saw the seriousness floating in the air. He walked over to the nearest couch and looked at the faces of the others. Their faces reflected that something was seriously wrong. Yuu and Gareas were looking down at the floor with their heads down. Erts was staring out into space, the space in the room, and Teela was zoned out. Rioroute looked around hoping for their expressions to lift so he wouldn't be the only one in the room who wasn't tense. None moved. Rioroute then sat down and tried his best to be as serious as the others. That didn't last.  
  
"Alright! Now what's up that I don't know about!" he yelled with one fist in the air. No one moved to answer him.  
  
Getting angry, one of his eyebrows twitching, he reached for Erts by his collar. He lifted up the youngest pilot into the air by his collar so that his feet were dangling in the air. Riouette pulled Erts's face up to his, but Erts's face never changed.  
  
"Alright, now you better tell me what's going on! I'm a part of this team too! Why is it I'm the only one who doesn't know?" he spat in Erts's face.  
  
Erts looked up with his face never changing. Rioroute seemed relieved that at least someone had moved. Erts's face came up slowly to meet his. When their eyes met Rioroute could see not only seriousness in his face, but fear, and concern. Erts read Rioroute's mind accidentally and quickly turned away.  
  
"Wha-? What is it Luhma-Klein?"  
  
"Victim," was the only word Erts uttered. "Victim is getting stronger. Surely you've noticed since out last battle that they were harder to beat than usual."  
  
"Oh," said Rioroute slapping his forehead with his free hand. "Is that all you're all worried about? Don't worry. Don't forget we're getting better as well. Victim may be getting smarter, but we're getting better every battle," he said swinging his other arm so Erts body swayed along with it.  
  
"No, it was different this time," Erts said letting the fear show in his voice. "The last one they were better than ever. It's as if they're come up with something that'll make them stronger, faster, smarter."  
  
Rioroute looked at Erts with confusion. "Whadaya mean?"  
  
"It seems that." Erts couldn't finish telling him before the alarm went off. Red lights flashed from every corner and hallway. The sound blared and echoed through the many empty rooms. All the pilots stirred and looked up as this happened. They calmly walked out the doorway and to their mechas. Rioroute put Erts down and followed the line of zombies to where their repairs were waiting for them.  
  
As they entered the room the doors shut tightly behind them. The doors also blocked out the sounds and flashes coming from the hallway. The room where they prepared for battle was mostly white with only a small walkway running through the center. There were 4 small outlets coming out from the walkway with each leading to a goddess. The last one, Ern Lattes, was right where the completely straight walkway ended. The goddess stood proud and tall, as did their pilots. Their repairers were already there and doing some last minute checks. The four women tapped the different buttons on the panels and frequently looked up at the goddess they were checking. When they slowed their pace the pilots took the cue to get into their battle machines. They walked straight to their goddess making only 90- degree turns. The repairers bid their pilots a final farewell before deploying the goddesses for launch. They knew that there was a chance that the pilots might not come from the battle alive, and this might be the last time they will see them. Gareas looked behind his shoulder to see Leena standing there.  
  
"Ready, Gareas?" she asked rhetorically. He just turned his head back and walked forward, without answering her.  
  
The pilots stepped through the layer between the outside and the cockpit. They seemed to vanish through the layer of black. The door then closed and locked. The scan then began inside. When it was complete the two head response receivers that floated above the pilot's head spun into position. They goddesses were then deployed and launched.  
  
The light in the tunnel flashed before the pilots. They were now seeing things from the goddesses' eyes and soon the bright light faded to the black with specks of white. All five were now in space. The first thing they did was look around for the enemy, they then followed their repairers from there.  
  
"Victim approaching in sector 1182," Leena said over the intercom.  
  
Gareas led the others to the sector where they took their positions.  
  
"I see type A, and B coming," Phil.  
  
"I can detect a lot more type A than B," said Erts after sending out the sensors from the back of Luhma Klein.  
  
"There are about 50 type A and 5 type B," said Tune.  
  
"Aqui-Keameia deploying shield," said Rioroute.  
  
"Stay in formation Alpha-Bravo until we get visual confirmation," said Teela.  
  
The goddesses flew into position, and then hovered within the shield. The pilots waited in anticipation as they looked out as far as they could. Rioroute, Gareas, and Yuu were in battle ready stances, while Teela and Erts just stood and waited. It wasn't long until a swarm of black/red shapes appeared. They appeared as tiny blobs, and then slowly grew in size. The once innocent little balls turned into blobs with sharp points, and fearsome faces.  
  
"I detect possibly 5 different groups with one type B as a possible leader," Erts said to the other pilots.  
  
"Alright then," said Gareas, "Let's get it over with."  
  
"Shift to neutral position 4-A," said Teela. "Attack what you can, but only to the shield's barriers."  
  
"Rodger that. Tellia-Kallisto now going on the offensive," said Yuu.  
  
"There are more behind them. One group is splitting," said Erts.  
  
"Eeva-Leena, go to sector 976 to take care of the extra group."  
  
"Rodger Errn-Laties. I'm going to the back."  
  
The battle was now underway. Victim approached, and many were slaughtered at the hands of the goddesses. As the last of them approached and were destroyed the goddesses rested.  
  
"Klein, any others?"  
  
"None detected, Errn-Laties."  
  
"Good then let's go back," said Rioroute.  
  
"Wait, some object has been detected by the radar," said Phil. "It's approaching to the west."  
  
The pilots turned to see a big shape approaching. It wasn't like any of the Victims they had faced before. It wasn't black, gray, or red. It was silver with some other colors, but it was so far away it was hard to tell what they were. What was most weird about it was that it looked human-like in shape.  
  
As it approached the pilots saw a sight of pure horror. It was another goddess with 2 large victims guiding it, one on each side. It looked like a goddess at least, it was different in someway. It was about the same size and it had the same features. It was the looks that threw a loop for the pilots. It had wing-like shoulder armor like Teela's; only it came from behind like wings were attached to the back. Its arms weren't thick with weapons or armor but it looked like it was wearing metallic gloves that became wider near the "elbow" where it stopped. The legs had the same kind of armor. Out from where the wings came out there was also, what looked like a "backpack" that looked like a box peeking out from the "armpits" when the arms were raised. It also had a metal "dress bottom" around the legs only they resembled flukes more, and were pointed at the end of the triangle. The head had the same flukes that came down and pointed out the same way. The points were at the ears and went out straight front. 3 more flukes stuck out the top, two parallel to each other while the other pointed up straight. There were also what looked like jewel patterns on the arms, legs, flukes, and helmet. They were red violet so they shined out from the white and green pattern. Despite the colors it looked nothing like Errn-Laties. It had its colors but it also had parts that looked like they were from the other goddesses. The alikeness was scary, but the difference was also frightening. The face of the goddess didn't look at all human, but more like a computer generated face.  
  
The arms hung at its side. The Victims seemed to be holding it up by the "armpits". The goddess drooped as if it was dead. The pilots could only wonder what or who was piloting it, and whether it was alive or not?  
  
The Victims then stopped and moved away from the goddess and seemed to flee away, as if they didn't want to be around when the fight began. The pilots still hadn't made a move, and now they were waiting for their opponents first. Even Teela couldn't give orders since she didn't know what kind of attack to initiate.  
  
The copy goddess then stirred. It's arms moved and the legs spread apart so that it looked like it was standing. The head never bothered to be lifted up. It raised its left arm and then lifted its head, as its eyes seemed to gleam, and even seem to glow. The arm then shifted and seemed to change. It transformed into a sword that came out of the glove. The pilots all cowered, even though they had been taught never to be afraid. The copy goddess was now ready to attack.  
  
It first attacked the closest one, which was Yuu. In a flash it was in front of him before he could react. With a slice of its sword it sliced down the chest of the goddess. Yuu cried in pain as the cockpit rocked. The copy goddess then hit him another 3 times before Yuu fell onto the cockpit floor on his knees. It then stabbed him in the side and stood back while the goddess drooped. Yuu was bleeding, and unconscious on the floor.  
  
"Yuu!" Gareas screamed. He then turned angrily to the copy goddess who still seemed to droop. "I don't care who, or what you are, I'm taking you down!" he yelled as he charged toward it.  
  
"Gareas! No!" yelled Teela, but it was too late for him to stop. He stopped a few miles away from it and started firing like crazy. He shot all his lasers, cannons, and all the ammo he had.  
  
"Gareas, please stop! If you use it all you'll be totally unguarded!" yelled Leena.  
  
Gareas didn't care about how much ammo he had; he just wanted to take this thing down, no matter what it took.  
  
The copy goddess looked up to see the upcoming shots and quickly moved. The arm that was the sword changed back while the other changed to a shield just in time to block the shots. Gareas was still firing like crazy and kept even though he knew about the shield. The goddess then flew toward him using its shield to block the shots. It flew right in the path of the lasers, and followed them up to Eeva-Leena. It stopped right in front of him so that their faces were level. Gareas had just run out of shots and looked at the goddess's cold, human-less expression. The goddess only paused for a second before punching him in the stomach hard.  
  
Gareas reeled back clutching his gut as he fell to his knees. Spit flew out of his mouth as the cockpit rammed right into him. The goddess then attacked him using only the free hand that wasn't the shield. Not only that, but it used some style. Almost like it was using a form of martial arts.  
  
The other pilots watched in terror as Gareas fell.  
  
"Gareas? Gareas! GAREAS!" Leena yelled as hard as she could into the intercom.  
  
"Yuu? Brother, please answer!" Kazuhi pleaded.  
  
The pilots also called, but with no answer. The fake goddess turned to them and turned its gaze on Aqui-Keameia.  
  
Rioroute barely had time to scream before the goddess rammed him hard with its elbow. The cockpit shook, but he wasn't harmed enough to fall to the floor. The goddess then held up the shield hand, which changed to a gun. It wasn't the kind of gun that Gareas had either. It was bigger, and looked like a particle gun. It resembled a cannon with a tube in the middle. Rioroute looked up to see his fate. The fake held its cannon up to the goddess and .  
  
"Rioroute!" Phil screamed as the shot was fired. Luckily it missed the center where the cockpit was, and damaged the side with a big hold only inches away from where Rioroute stood hunched over unconscious.  
  
"Oh, my god!" said Phil as she covered her mouth. She then sobbed into them.  
  
"Ernest! Get out of there!" Tune yelled.  
  
Ernest looked at his fallen teammates and didn't move. He instead stared determinably at the copy goddess.  
  
"Ernest? That was an order!"  
  
"Someone has to stop this thing. Errn-Laties can't handle this alone."  
  
Tune was shocked at his answer. "Alright, if that's the way you want it done then," she said punching at the controls. She looked up to see the other repairers had either slumped over their screens, or were crying. Leena was on the ground with her knees pressed together on the floor. She had a look of terror and shock on her face that didn't seem to want to leave. She was sweating and shaking. Tune knew she had to save Erts, he was the only one left.  
  
Erts held strong waiting for the goddess to turn its sights on him. No sooner did he think this did it look up at him. He tried using his EX to reach the pilot. Hopefully it was human. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He was now in the goddess and all he could see was blackness. He then saw lights of computer screens, the only light there was. The screens showed readouts and seemed to glow on the interior. He tried to concentrate to focus the picture, but all it did was get fuzzier. He opened his eyes to see the goddess now right in his face. He tried to listen to its thoughts. No matter how he concentrated he couldn't hear anything. Right before it struck he heard the pilot's thoughts. He heard, "Attack, Lady Gwenevere."  
  
The arm turned into a blade and sliced through the goddess. The arms were nearly cut off while the head was halfway cut off. Erts had fallen down and was now unconscious as the others. He wasn't hurt as badly as the others, but had a cut going down his side.  
  
"Erts," Tune said sadly. "Now you're gone too, just like your brother." Tune broke down and cried, not bothering to hide her tears since all the others were also grieving.  
  
Teela had been watching all this without making a move. It was very unusual for the leader not to try and save their team, but Teela had been frozen by fear that kept the others from attacking. After Erts had been taken down she instantly snapped out of it. She turned her sights to the copy and readied her attack. She had never before attacked an enemy without the other's help, but she was now the only one who could protect Zion.  
  
The copy lifted up its head and didn't look at Teela at all. It instead looked out onto the glowing sphere hanging in space. It's boosters fired up and it flew off in that direction. Teela gasped, the thing had found Zion.  
  
She quickly maneuvered her goddess and came right in the path. The fake stopped right in its tracks as Teela blocked its way to Zion.  
  
"I will not let you anywhere near Zion," Teela declared before she launched her attack.  
  
She first tried hand-to-hand combat. The fake dodged them all and then got as far away as it could from her, slipping out of her grasp. Its hands then transformed into twin blades, it then unleashed its attack on Teela. She instantly tried blocking. The force hit her hard, and she struggled to hold it back. She winced in pain as she used most of the energy she had left just trying to hold the attack back. She managed to summon enough strength to blow the attack back, but it left her exhausted. She panted as sweat ran down her face. Her long light blue hair had lost its glow and perfection as strands stuck out from the main piece of hair. She quickly took a fight position, and then tried another attack.  
  
She tried some tactics this time. She came from the front first. When the copy came to block she swerved to the right and struck it in the side. While it was still recovering from that attack she hit it in the back with her sword.  
  
She backed away to get some distance between them before she initiated her final blow. She lifted her hands into the air and pulled them apart, the movements for the attack. A huge light came from that point and shined pure white. Energy exploded as the supernova ripped through space. The legendary attack, Errn-Laties special move, the "death blow" had been called on.  
  
Teela's strategy had worked and the copy had followed her only to be faced with the head on attack. The deathblow also had a big range so it wouldn't be able to escape no matter how far it flew. The explosion rocked space; even the colonies on Zion saw the explosion.  
  
Teela stood back as the light faded. She slowly blinked her eyes, making sure she wasn't seeing things. The fake goddess was still there.  
  
It was now within a protective bubble with its feet up to its chest. The bubble surrounded it like a force field, protecting it from the blast. It moved its legs down to their normal position and as it did the bubble faded. It looked up and with one fluid movement it sliced through the abdomen of the goddess with lightning speed.  
  
Teela withered in pain. She clutched her side as a red stain leaked onto her pilot outfit. She winced as she tried to get back up. Being the strongest she had managed to survive the first attack.  
  
The goddess turned its head to look at the knelt down Errn-Laties. It then hovered over the fallen goddess and prepared for the final strike. Just as it was to hit, Errn-Laties blocked and pushed it away. The fake goddess then stopped as far as Teela had pushed it away. It watched as the fallen goddess stood up.  
  
Teela winced as the pain in her side wanted to keep her down, but she got up. She managed to get back onto her feet. One hand held her sword while the other clutched her side. Her fingers were stained with red and were starting to stick together.  
  
"I will not let you near Zion, no matter what. I will not let you annihilate humankind!" she screamed as she rushed in for an attack. She raised her sword into the air and tried to strike the head. The goddess blocked Teela's futile attempt easily.  
  
As Teela gritted her teeth she heard something. A sound, no, a voice coming through the intercom. The imposter was tapping into the same intercom used for the pilots to communicate with each other and their repairers. Teela stopped when she heard this. The voice was so soft, gentle in a way. It sounded numb and cold in a way, and somehow seemed robotic.  
  
"Hu-man."  
  
"Wha-?" Teela said releasing the pressure on her sword.  
  
"Hu-man," the voice answered. The word didn't roll off its tongue, but it seemed as if it was hard to pronounce. Like it was hearing it for the same time in a new light. "Are you human?"  
  
"What? Who?" Teela was so confused she couldn't answer the question.  
  
"You are human."  
  
Teela stared at the fake goddess who also seemed to let up. Teela put her sword away and the other goddess changed their blades back into hands. The other goddess also seemed to straighten up instead of droop. Teela then knew something was wrong with this pilot.  
  
"Just like me."  
  
Teela gasped at the words that came over. This goddess was an enemy, yet a human controlled it. The voice did not sound like it was brainwashed. It sounded like the words were really being said and meant. Teela could only wonder how this was possible.  
  
"You're human?" Teela asked hoping it would answer her.  
  
The other goddess seemed to nod its head before it reeled back. It clutched its head and seemed as if it had a really bad headache that made it bring its head down to its waist. The goddess looked as if something was destroying it from inside.  
  
"Wait!" Teela yelled reaching her hand out.  
  
What she heard next was a scream, a high-pitched scream that showed pain, and fear. Something was wrong.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
_The screens flashed and blinked. Stats and components were shown on the screen. Everything was flashing. Something was getting in my head. Something was getting in, trying to take me. It wanted to take me away.  
  
I clutch my head and squeeze it as hard as I only hope that I can squeeze it out. I cover my ears and close my eyes. I scream in pain to the human. I can only hope she can hear me, my pleas. I look up to the screen to see something on the screen, what was causing this. The only problem was everything was getting blurry so I couldn't see what it said. Everything is spinning, getting blurrier. I open my eyes to see random things that don't make sense. I try to focus, but after a while my vision fades and the darkness of the room consumes me._  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Teela could only watch at what was happening. She reached out her hand to try and help the pilot. The goddess looks up at her, only this time the cold face shows the emotion of the pilot. It then sent out an attack, which was like an energy wave. It knocked Teela back and onto the ground of the cockpit on her back. The knock-back causes her to move her arm off her side causing more pain. She finally manages to get up before looking to see where the goddess was, gone. The fake goddess had disappeared in that shock wave.  
  
"What was that?" Teela asked herself. She then regained composure and contacted the repairers. "Listen, I want you all to check on your pilots. Make sure they're still functioning. They should all be, it would take a lot more to kill them. I also want you to get them outta here. I don't have the strength left to bring them back. Hurry! I can't." Teela's vision faded as she too fell to the floor of her goddess like her teammates.


	2. Meet

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

  
  
**Chapter 2 Change****  
**  
Teela blinked her eyes a few times adjusting them to the intense light of the room. The walls were pure white, and only seemed to make the room brighter. Her vision became less fuzzy, so she looked around. She had bandages wrapped around her head, arms, and just about every other place on her body. The white bandages were stained with little blood; they had changed them several times. She turned her head to the side and saw her teammates lying in hospital beds right next to her in a neat row. Each one was bandaged up with their uniforms still on.  
  
She tried moving her arm with no success. She had neither the strength nor the need to. She sighed and blew some hair away from her face. Amazingly, they were the only things that hadn't been stained red. Teela began to think to herself to pass the time.  
  
"What happened back there?" she said in her mind. Images flowed as freely as water back to her. Each was a clear picture that was well developed. She saw the goddess fighting, slaughtering over and over again. The pictures kept repeating over and over again, like the memory reel in her mind had stuck and started repeating. It was also the same thing happening to her. The images kept flashing by, until one caught her. She carefully rewound her mind just to see that image again. She then strained to focus it. It was the image of that goddess again, when she heard her scream.  
  
Teela remembered the fight of that goddess, as lethal as it was, but what it had said to her. "Human," Teela thought back. "It said it was human. Could it be? What would a human be doing in that position? It sounded so gentle, but that scream. What happened to it? Will I ever see it again? I've got to reach out to the pilot; it might be our only chance. That. . .thing. . .nearly got to Zion. We can't risk that."  
  
She snapped from her thoughts when she heard a groan next to her. Her eyes popped open, and she turned her head. Rioroute was getting up from his bed and scratching his head. He tried sitting up, then clutched his side. Soon after the other pilots awoke.  
  
"What happened?" said a dazed Rioroute.  
  
"We must've been out for at least a day by the looks of these wounds," said Gareas sitting up with no problem.  
  
"I barely remember anything," said Yuu, "it all happened so fast, a blur."  
  
"We're going to see it again," said Erts who had been quiet the whole time. "I just know it."  
  
"What're we going to do next time number one?" asked Rioroute.  
  
"I don't know," Teela answered quietly. "I just don't know."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
It had been a week, and the pilots had recovered. Somehow victim hadn't attacked at all, they were quiet, too quiet. The pilots were all well and could now move around, but they were restless. Whether it be from the anxiousness or just the deprival of battle that caused this. One thing was sure; they were all looking forward to the upcoming fight. The pilots all kept to themselves as well. There was no talk except from the greetings in the morning. The quiet seemed to linger in the air, like it liked it there and had permanently moved in. The awkwardness was increasing. The pilots were all itching for a fight.  
  
Finally one morning at breakfast one snapped.  
  
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Gareas yelled slamming his fist onto the breakfast table. He panted with rage while the pilots were still shocked. The force had knocked their plates around so the food was now a jumbled mess.  
  
"I know how you feel, we all do!" Rioroute yelled back. "Look what you did to my food!"  
  
"I know all of you can feel it, but somebody has to say something first!" Gareas yelled back.  
  
"Calm down Eeva-Leena," yelled Rioroute jumping to his feet and confronting Gareas. "We've all been quiet because if one of us said something this is just what would happen!"  
  
"I can't keep it in any longer!" yelled Yuu. His vein had been popping while the two were arguing, and he got right up and pulled both of their shoulders. "Stop it! This is just what Victim wants us to do, get on edge!"  
  
"Well it's working!" yelled Rioroute.  
  
"We must be ready for battle at all times, they've probably been juicing up that goddess," said Gareas.  
  
"We must all calm down," Erts said in his quiet way. "We're all on edge, and that'll make us lose the next battle. I know we're all anxious, but we're also scared. After what that goddess did, we're just scared of what its next move will be. The battle will come, but we must be ready. They probably are juicing up the goddess, but we will be more prepared this time."  
  
The pilots stood dumbfounded at Erts outburst. This was the most he had ever said before in their presence. The arguing men dispersed, and went down three separate ways without looking back at the others. Teela had been sitting the entire time. Her plate lay on the edge of the table with the food untouched. Erts watched as she stood up and walked past him out of the room.  
  
"The time between battles is harder than the time in them," Erts said to her without looking back to face her.  
  
"Especially for eager warriors," answered Teela as she continued off.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Ring, god-damit ring!" Rioroute pleaded to the alarm on the wall. Erts couldn't help but smile at his feeble attempt. He and the other pilots were in a room that had windows on all sides, not including the door. Maybe it was because they wanted to be close so they could see Victim approaching, or maybe they thought the alarm wouldn't alert them in enough time. Erts got up and looked out one of the windows. Space was an endless void that went on forever behind the glass. Erts could only wonder what it held.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What is the diagnosis doctor?" Teela asked Dr. Revord.  
  
"Can't get any readings," the doctor answered.  
  
The room was dark, and the only light was coming from the computer screen both were staring at. Dr. Revord idly typed while Teela watched from behind him. The glow from the computer made her hair shine in the darkness, like a glow in the dark key-chain almost.  
  
"Is that possible?"  
  
"No."  
  
The silence drifted over until one spoke. "What can you tell me about the design?"  
  
"So much like a goddess, yet not. It is most certainly a very good imitation."  
  
"So it's not original?"  
  
"There were only five originals, this one is a copy."  
  
"Can you tell what pilots it?"  
  
"It could be run by a computer for all I know. The only thing I know about it is how it looks externally. Internally, could be something totally different."  
  
"So you're not sure a human was piloting it?"  
  
"No, do you have any evidence?"  
  
"That scream, her voice, the way she moved. . ."  
  
"It could've all been done by computer, and the voice engineered electronically."  
  
"No, there was life in that voice no matter how cold it was."  
  
"I would never doubt you."  
  
The doctor sighed and laced his fingers while resting his chin on top of them. "But do you think Victim would be so desperate to beat us they would create one of our weapons to use against us?"  
  
"It is a possibility."  
  
The doctor let out a thoughtful hmm. "Still, the original goddess weren't all computer. They needed something organic to give it power, the EX of a candidate. That's why nobody except those special can pilot one. Do you think they would make a replica so accurate to the original that it too would need organic matter?"  
  
Teela remained silent for a moment. "I'm just telling you my suspicions, doctor."  
  
"You have a right to have suspicions and theories, but this subject will be difficult to examine without obtaining it ourselves."  
  
"So you have learned nothing?"  
  
"Only that you should fight with caution; be careful, very careful."  
  
The alarm rang throughout the ship. Teela's and the doctor's conversation was cut short as she walked out the door with the doctor not shifting out of his position. The doctor spun around in the computer chair he was sitting in and faced the computer screen. On it were blueprints of the goddess, labels of its parts, and information on its parts. The doctor looked over each one, scanning for some kind of hidden clue.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"RING DAMN YOU!" Rioroute screamed at the alarm.  
  
"FOR GOD SAKES WILL YOU QUIT IT!" Gareas screamed over him. "That thing is not going to ring just because. . ."  
  
Gareas was cut short when the alarm did ring. Rioroute's eyes sailed up to look at, then back to Gareas who was right in his face. Rioroute grinned cheekily, and then ran off. Gareas blinked a few times before standing up straight and continuing after him. Erts had turned around from the window and had watched the entire thing. He gazed back out the window. He touched the glass softly with one hand with only his fingertips touching. Erts breathed in deeply, and exhaled.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The pilots emerged into the room where they boarded their goddesses to find their repairers strangely silent. The pilots paused as the repairers typed away furiously at their screens without looking up at them. The pilots looked to each other before going their separate ways to their goddesses. Just as Yuu was about to step in his sister hunched her shoulders up like she was hiding her emotional bubble inside of her.  
  
"STOP IT!" she burst out. She ran in front of her brother and blocked the way into the cockpit of the Tellia-Kallisto. "You can't go Omi-chan!" she protested.  
  
Yuu was shocked at his sister's actions, but replied, "Move."  
  
"No, you'll get hurt again," she said turning away to look at the floor. Tears slowly dripped down. "I saw you out there. I don't want it to happen again."  
  
"I am more prepared this time," Yuu stated coldly.  
  
"That's what you think," she said snapping her head up to him. He could see her eyes brimming with tears. "None of us are prepared to counter this enemy! Just because you saw it do something last time doesn't mean that you are prepared to face it. Please don't go!"  
  
Yuu walked over and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. "I have to go, Zion is depending on me."  
  
"None of us want you guys to go," Kazuhi replied. Yuu looked up to see all the other repairers had stopped typing. They were all staring down at their keypads hiding their faces with their hair. Yuu turned back to his sister and stroked the side of her face. He brushed her hair away and dried her tears.  
  
"We have to," he replied continuing on to the cockpit of his goddess. Kazuhi rubbed her eyes, but let him go past the layer into the cockpit. She wiped her eyes, and got behind her control panel trying to keep her composure. Gareas turned to Leena expecting her to do the same. As the leader of the repairers, Leena had to be strong. She lifted her head up and began typing furiously. Gareas nodded his head to her before disappearing behind his layer. Only after he had gone through did Leena break down and cry. She leaned her elbow against the control panel and sobbed quietly. Rioroute cast a look at Phil to see she was on the brim of crying. He gave her a pat on the arm, which made her look up at him with surprise.  
  
"Don't worry about me," he said as he stepped into his goddess. Phil smiled, but let a few tears fall.  
  
Tune looked at Erts who didn't look back at her. "I'll come back, I promise you that," he said as he ran into his goddess. Tune remembered the pain of losing Ernest. She promised herself not to lose Erts.  
  
Teela silently observed the acts of her fellow pilots and their repairers. Teela wondered at the acts, how they were so concerned of the lives of their partners. Teela had been a goddess pilot longer than most, and she had seen many of her teammates come and go. Never had she seen the repairers so concerned, especially since they did this everyday and knew of the possible outcomes. She slowly walked into her goddess, and took her part as leader.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The goddesses were all deployed, and stood in attack formation.  
  
"Aqui-Keameia, shield!" Teela ordered.  
  
"Shield deploying," answered Rioroute. "The system's all go with no for- coming errors."  
  
"Luhma-Klein, any sign of them yet?"  
  
"There are 10 type-B, and a few type-As that we shouldn't have to worry about," Erts answered.  
  
Teela looked out to see the swarm of Victim approaching. She hesitated, but then realized that the copy goddess wasn't along the ranks. She frowned slightly, and gripped her hands into fists. "Prepare to initiate the attack."  
  
The pilots charged forward in an attack formation. They destroyed most of the Victim swarmed, and were just finishing off the last ones.  
  
"We're almost done," said Rioroute.  
  
"You know what that means," said Yuu.  
  
"I remember," replied Rioroute.  
  
"Last time we finished Victim off, that other goddess showed up," said Gareas. "I'll get 'em this time."  
  
Erts remained silent, and used the sensors to trace any sign of impending danger. He closed his eyes and let his body go limp as he concentrated. His vision went out to distant space; stars flew by as he looked out. It was then he saw the goddess using his far sight. Erts gasped, and took a step back. All the pilots felt this.  
  
"What is it Luhma Klein?" asked Rioroute.  
  
"It's here," said Erts, and that was all he needed to say.  
  
The pilots steadied themselves, and readied for battle. As the copy approached, the pilots let out confused looks. This time, the goddess had binding around it. The Victims had wrapped their 'tails' around the body. It looked as it they were holding it back, or restraining it. It was once again limp and unmoving. The goddess pilots watched it carefully, unblinking. The Victims led the copy up to the goddess pilots. Their tails then whipped off the body and retracted back to them. They then scurried out of sight.  
  
The pilots readied themselves, as did their repairers. The repairers were trying their best to keep composure, and kept silent and cold looks as they typed at their panels. They had put aside their feelings, and kept their faces by putting their duties first. The pilots were no longer friends, just people they had to work with and protect.  
  
The copy stirred, and lifted up her head. The goddess waited no time, and attacked at that slight provocation. Yuu was the first to attack by charging straight in. Gareas stayed behind waiting for the time for his duty as backup. He gripped his hands preparing his guns. Teela waited in a fighting pose, but her mind wandered. She kept thinking about the last fight that only she had stayed conscious enough to see. Teela's gaze appeared to be ready for the fight, when she was really focusing on her thoughts.  
  
Yuu struck the goddess, but it seemed to show no pain. Yuu tried to stab at it, but it dodged. It was strange how limp its arms were, yet it dodged the blows easily. Yuu kept stabbing with his swords, but no hit. Finally Yuu took one of his swords and tried to slice the copy's face. Just as it was about to hit, the copy blocked. Yuu was stunned. The armor on the copy's arms stopped the blow. The arm then changed to that of a sword much like Yuu's. Yuu gasped, and the copy threw his sword back. Yuu threw blows with his swords, but the copy dodged and blocked. Just as Yuu was about to throw a strike, he felt something on his shoulder. He looked and saw the copy's sword resting right near his throat just waiting to cut it apart. Yuu gasped, and stared at the copy with wide eyes. He was panting, but the fear made him breathe harder.  
  
"That's it," yelled Gareas shooting at the copy. The copy's head turned slowly toward Gareas. It then withdrew its sword, and its other hand changed into a shield. It flew around in loops with the shield in front of it to protect it from the shots. Gareas was firing, but tried not to waste it. Gareas's shots were getting farther and farther from target. The copy was fast, very fast.  
  
Erts watched carefully, studying his opponents moves. He remembered when he had linked his mind to that pilot. He remembered the thoughts. He hadn't gone very deep into the pilot's mind before he was struck. Somehow, Erts saw the pilot from a different angle than the other goddess pilots. He saw life, a human life.  
  
After dodging many attacks from both Gareas and Yuu, the copy struck back. It flew from Gareas's line of fire so suddenly, Gareas couldn't stop it when it flew right to Yuu. It knocked Yuu with the flat end of its sword, knocking him unconscious. Gareas jerked around and started firing at the copy with rage. He knew Yuu hadn't been hurt badly, but he wouldn't let that copy get away with it. The copy dodged shots while getting closer to him. Finally, the copy jerked during a dodge causing the shield to move up. Gareas shot the body that had been revealed in that one moment. An explosion rocked the fake goddess, and its leg had a burnt mark where it had been hit. It had been hit near the thigh, and it stopped. It hung lifelessly in the air. Gareas put his guns down and watched it. With lightning speed, the goddess flew up right in Gareas's face. Gareas was soon staring down the goddess's cold, hard, inhuman expression. It then rammed into Gareas's stomach with the shield. Gareas's spit flew out of his mouth, before he fell to his knees clutching his stomach. He wasn't unconscious, but he was in pain that kept him from getting up.  
  
"Gar, are you ok?" Leena called over the intercom.  
  
"I'm fine," Gareas answered without lifting his head. "But I can't move. My gut hurts too much."  
  
"Stay down, I don't think it's going to hit you again," Leena commanded. "It didn't hit Yuu any harder. I think it just wanted to knock him out."  
  
"It's toying with us," said Gareas wrapping his arms around his body. "It tried to kill us last time, but this time it doesn't want to. It's either toying with us, or it changed its mind."  
  
"I'm ready," said Rioroute.  
  
"Stand your ground," commanded Teela. "Your goddess wasn't made to attack."  
  
Rioroute held back reluctantly. He let out a growl, but respected Teela's authority. Erts held his body in no pose. He was simply standing, not expecting an attack. He simply stared at the goddess's deceiving nature. It seemed so limp one moment, then flew right in your face to attack you in an instant. He knew it could attack at any moment despite its pose, but he didn't even hold his arm up.  
  
Teela put her arms down. Her pose relaxed, and she simply stood there like Erts had done. She put down her fists, and stood waiting. Rioroute watched at his teammates' actions. He was so confused. "How could they let their guard down against this enemy? They know what it can do, yet they do not even defend themselves," Rioroute thought. "Could it be that they know it won't hurt them, but that's impossible."  
  
"It won't," said Erts after reading Rioroute's thoughts. "It hasn't shed blood in this battle. I think something has changed."  
  
Rioroute blinked at Erts's words before letting his guard down as well. He looked toward the two goddesses wondering what they could be thinking. He didn't know what was going on, but he had to trust them. They had lasted longer in the last battle. He could only hope that they knew more about what was going on.  
  
"Pilot!" Teela called out. "Can you hear me?"  
  
She was responded by silence. The goddess stirred though. It put its weapons away, by simply raising its arms then lowering them again. The weapons changed to hands in those two motions. Teela waited for its response. The goddess lifted up its head to look at her. It stared at Teela for a while, before nodding its head.  
  
"Can you understand me?" Teela called out.  
  
The goddess simply stared out at her. Rioroute humphed silently. "What're they thinking?" he thought. "That THING probably can't even talk. Why are they attempting to communicate? Could it be that there's a human in there?"  
  
Erts closed his eyes, and focus his mind on the copy's pilot. He closed his eyes, and let his head reel back.  
  
"Who are you?" a voice called out.  
  
Erts looked around and saw that he had managed to link to the pilot's mind. He could hear the thoughts, the feelings. He was still in his cockpit, but he could hear the pilot. Erts closed his eyes again, and tried to talk back.  
  
"I am Erts Virny Cocteau, a goddess pilot," he answered.  
  
"You are here, in here, why? Why are you here? Where is here?"  
  
"I am a telepath," Erts answered back.  
  
"Listen to me!" Teela yelled causing Erts to break his link. "I need to know, are you human?"  
  
"Hu-man," a voice called out over the comlink.  
  
"Yes, human," said Teela coming closer with her goddess to the copy. Teela offered her hand out to it. "You are human, aren't you?"  
  
"I. . .am. . ." said the copy. Its arm lifted up and just as one finger was about to touch Teela's the entire body of the copy jerked. It clutched its head and reeled back and forth. Teela retracted her hand, but continued calling out to it.  
  
"Human?" Teela called out. The jerkings only got worse. The goddess clutched its head and seemed to fight something from inside its head.  
  
Erts closed his eyes, and concentrated on the link again. He knew that it was being attacked through its mind, and he had to find out why. Soon Erts was in the pilot's mind, and he could hear the thoughts.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
_Pain, all around. This thing in my head, its trying to get in. I can't let it in. Why is it trying to come in? What? The lights flash, and I see the screen. I try to fight it, and it sees that. I didn't fight it the last time. Now that I am, it seems to try harder. It notices that my actions are different, and it will do anything to get me back.  
  
It had me before. Before we were together. Now it wants me to do something that I don't want to do. I try to fight it, but it fights back. I can't fight it anymore. I have to get help.  
  
"Lady Gwenevere!" I call out. She's the only one that can help me. She's the only one who knows. "Help," I can't call out any weaker._  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  
Erts gasped. The pilot was talking to someone, or something within the goddess. Only it wasn't talking to it, it was yelling out in thoughts.  
  
++++++++++++++++

  
_"What's going on?" I yell out. She has to know, she always does.  
  
"They want you back," she answers me. "You have defied them."  
  
"You can stop this," I answer back. I know she can. She lets everything into and out of me, she can stop it from getting into my head.  
  
"I cannot."  
  
"What do you mean?!" She can't do this. She knows she can but yet she doesn't.  
  
"It has taken me as well, and I have to do this."  
  
"Don't let it take me!" How can she just let me go? She protects me, she wouldn't do this. It's not like her. How can she abandon me?  
  
"It is best."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You do not want that. I know that you want to know these humans. It is best that this should get into you. You do not want to go there."  
  
"Please!" I beg. She does not understand. I am human, she knows that. I have to know who I am, she knows that. I must learn, she knows that.  
  
"I know what is best for you."  
  
"Just let me go." I am running out of energy. I cannot say anything any louder. It only comes out in a whisper. I must get the message to her. I can't fight and go on with her much longer.  
  
She stops. She pauses. She thinks. She then finally answers me. "As you wish, but I must do something."  
  
Suddenly something surges into my head. I can't fight it, it just rushed in so suddenly for me to oppose. It goes into my head, it leaks into my brain. I can feel it oozing over my thoughts and memories. It seeps into the cracks in my brain's surface.  
  
Just then my mind is spinning. Everything isn't making sense. All the things I was doing, escapes me. I can't remember what I was thinking. My mind is a blank. I can't recall anything. The world is spinning. What is the world? "A virus, Lady Gwenevere?"  
  
"It must be done," she answers before my world goes blank. My body relaxes, and I feel at ease. Everything seems so new, yet vaguely familiar. I feel as if some of my troubles have been erased, for I cannot recall them. I feel relieved, and let the blackness take me._  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Erts had to snap his mind back to reality. He was almost plunged into the vortex in the pilot's mind. Something had entered the pilot's mind and tampered with it. It was messing around, and taking events and moments. Erts had to pull away before he got caught in it. He snapped back to see that the entire body of the goddess had gone limp, and really limp. It's head and body was leaning backwards. Whatever held it to its feet was gone. It was like the pilot had lost consciousness.  
  
Teela flew in first to see. She waved her hand over it, then gave the head a single tap. She then backed away. "The pilot has lost consciousness," she told the remaining pilots. "Bring it in for examination," she said in her cold way before flying off.  
  
"What?" he yelled out. "But, Number 1!" he called out but Teela kept flying. Rioroute then turned to see Erts putting the arm of the goddess on his shoulders. Erts looked up at him, and gave him a nod through his goddess. Erts then carried the goddess back. As he was, he looked down at the goddess. "Who are you?" he asked in his mind. "What're you doing out here?"  
  
The goddess approached the station floating in space. They were now going to conduct research on the mysterious goddess, and its pilot.  
  



	3. Recuperation

Ah, no reviews. Oh well, I've been through that before. For those of you who do read my story, which I think is going pretty well, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 3 Mind 

"So, how're we going to get in it?" asked Rioroute.

"We could pry the hatch open," suggested Gareas.

"Or we could just crack it open," stated Rioroute. "Like an egg."

"We can't afford to destroy it," replied Gareas. "No matter how much we want to."

"There has to be SOME way in," said Rioroute tilting his head to side as if hoping to find a sideways door to help him.

"Well there's no report on this thing," said Leena sighing over the keyboard.

"What do you mean there's no report!" exclaimed Rioroute. "You must have some information from poking at that thing for the past hour!"

"Well would you like to try?" Leena yelled back angrily.

"Now's not the time to fight amongst ourselves," said Yuu. He glanced up at the goddess. "We have other matters to deal with."

"Well so do I," said Rioroute with his stomach growling. "I'm off to lunch!"

"Hey! How can you be running off in a time like this?" yelled Gareas chasing after him. They both started running down the white track.

Somehow the goddess pilots had found an extra walkway to post up the copy goddess. They had tubes, wires, and all sorts of components attached to the arms, legs, head, and chest to find out as much as they could about the internal and external anatomy. So far the radiation readouts, electronic x-rays, nervous CAT scans, and energy levels had told them nothing. The entrance to the goddess, in the chest like the regular ones, was locked up tight. The goddess hadn't moved, and the Goddess Crew had taken a big risk taking it inside. The repairers were doing all that they could, but even Dr. Crawford couldn't jar open the door or find anything out of the ordinary about the goddess. The readouts came out normal, but he knew there was something wrong about that.

Yuu sighed, and walked off after Gareas and Rioroute. Erts and Teela looked up at the goddess; so alike and familiar, yet strange and scary at the same time. Teela drew her expressionless eyes up, and gave the face a long stare. Erts kept having flashbacks of the goddess pilot, of the pilot's mind. . .

"Who are you?" Erts breathed out. "What are you?" The goddess remained silent, as if brooding over his question.

"It's a strange feeling, isn't it?" asked Teela without turning her head. Erts broke his gaze and turned to face her with a look of surprise.

"The feeling of reverence, and fear. . ."

"You guys can be so stubborn!" yelled Gareas as he dragged Yuu and Rioroute by their necks. Rioroute frantically flailed his arms about and tried to fight against Gareas.

"Lemme go! Food!" Rioroute screamed out as if the food walk right out and help him in his time of need.

Yuu, on the other hand, remained silent. The pilot was annoyed, more than annoyed, he was pissed and just about to floor both Rioroute and Gareas as soon as his vein bulged enough to pop.

"Listen, we gotta figure out who or what pilots this thing!" Gareas scolded the two finally letting go of their collars.

"But, uh, what about lunch?" Rioroute asked innocently.

Yuu's teeth had been grinding so long they were now sanded down. The vein popped. "SO WHO'S GOING IN THEN?"

The crew was taken back by Yuu's break of silence. Yuu calmly stopped panting and regained composure; all in a fluent and professional manner. Rioroute and Gareas looked at each other.

"His is," they said at the same time pointing at each other. Yuu could feel that vein bulging again.

"Why me?"

"Don't you wanna go in?"

"You're the one who wants to get in. You go."

"But you're the braver one."

"Uh. . ."

"What's the matter, scared?"

"Yes, and that's why you should go in."

"Me?"

"Yes you."

"Well. . .I can't."

"And why not?"

"Well. . .because. . ."

As the argument continued Erts slowly zoned out. The goddess loomed ahead of him, a formidable foe and a vision of beauty as the other goddess. But there was something about this goddess that made it different. It wasn't an original, so it held a mystery the other goddess didn't have. Nobody really knew where the goddesses came from, but they could control them. This was an opposing force. They couldn't control this one.

"I wish you would open," Erts whispered in despair. He was tiring of this mystery and wanted to unearth the copy's secrets. He knew the goddess must have some clue related to Victim, or maybe to the origin of the original goddesses. Deeper still was the pilot he knew was there. He had to prove to himself that he hadn't just imagined what happened. But he just couldn't believe that a human could do such things. He was afraid of being wrong, but he was even more afraid of not knowing.

_Why do you wish so?_

Erts gasped, but nobody could hear over Rioroute's and Gareas's yelling. There was no use searching the room, he was sure the voice came from inside his head. His telepathic powers gave him a sense of knowing what was thought and what were spoken words. He knew to tell the difference, and he knew what that voice was. The problem was, that though it made sense, he didn't want to believe it. Erts shook his head rubbing his temple as nonchalantly as he could not to attract attention. How was he supposed to reply?

"_Are you the goddess or the pilot"_ Erts asked using his telepathy at the goddess.

It matters not. . .I wish to know why 

Erts was surprised it answered back. "Why are you asking me?" 

_Because you seem worthy. . ._

_(pause)"I-I wish to see the pilot. I believe she's human. I believe I can help her. Please?"_

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What's going on?" 

_I'm questioning the human._

_"May I, may I talk to him?"_

_No, not yet._

_"I want to talk to him."_

_Let me make sure he's all right first._

_". . . Can you at least tell me what he's asking?"_

_He wishes to open the goddess_

_"Oh, I see. . ."_

_Now you know._

_"Will you open for him?"_

_No, I cannot risk that._

_"He seems well enough, he is asking you."_

_You know of the consequences. You know he cannot be trusted._

_"But, I want to see him."_

_. . .Why?_

_"He's human, like. . .like me."_

_They cannot be trusted._

_"They seemed well enough in the fight."_

_What they seem and what they are, are two different things. You don't understand creatures like them._

_"I'm one of them."_

_But you have a chance. You can change and be different. You can change who you are, become better. Would you give all that up?_

_"I can't keep it unless I know what I could've had."_

_You don't want to join them._

_"Then what is this need?"_

_Trust me. Have you ever heard of a story called 'A Tale of Two Cities'? It's a story in which a country mouse moves to city hoping to find glamour after all that he's heard about it. It turns out a horrible experience and he stays with his simple life instead. If you go it will seem joyful at first, but soon turn horrifying in the end._

_"I heed your advice, but, I cannot deny myself this. I am entitled to know what it's like. I have to know."_

_I am not done questioning him._

_"How is he able to answer?"_

_That I do not know._

_"He must have some sort of power that is different. . .Open for him."_

_But. . ._

_"Please?"_

_. . .Are you sure you can trust him?_

_"That will be left up to you. I want to explore."_

_. . .You can trust him._

_"Then let him in."_

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Erts rubbed his sore temples. He had communicated with others via his telepathy, and more than one occasion he had even conversed with himself, but he had never talked to an inanimate object before. As a child he had a few cherished possessions, like a teddy bear and countless model planes. However he never talked to those creatures, at least not out loud. He mainly kept them around for comfort, for familiarity, for proof that his room was really his room and not a duplication he had been put in while he slept. Even as a child he had his EX ability, more reason he was promoted before hand to the upper class. Somehow Erts always considered talking to anything that wasn't living to be a sign of insanity. He needed to think he was sane, especially with all the activity going on with his mind. Of course he never considered talking to himself a sign of anything.

Of course he considered being interrogated by an inanimate object to be a sign of insanity.

Were the goddesses inanimate objects? Humanity really didn't have a clue where they came from, or at least it wasn't common knowledge. Some say that an eccentric scientist made blueprints for them a long time ago and they found the plans recently. Some say they fell from the stars and were from Victim themselves; a way for the human race to fight back since the other colonated planets had been obliterated. Some say the goddesses were alien beings that pretended to be robots. Of course the goddesses were mechas, but did they have AI's that made them seem human? Or was that just the pilot talking to him?

The pilot, he'd almost forgotten about him.

As if to answer his thoughts the pod door came down, lowering down like a drawbridge to the narrow walkway. Rioroute and Gareas immediately stopped arguing.

"Wha-?" started Rioroute. Gareas just ran up right next to Erts, no words uttered.

"Did you do this?" he asked the young pilot, knowing full well of Erts's true potential.

Erts, being unsure, merely shook his head. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure if he had committed a complete lie since he didn't know the answer.

Gareas nodded at Erts's answer, taking it as the absolute truth, and hurried in. It was a bit unlike him, to right into the unfamiliar goddess after he had loathed it so a while ago, then again Erts couldn't deny the curiosity he had as well.

"Hey! Wait for me!" yelled Rioroute. Using his telepathy, though not on purpose, Erts could hear countless curses coming from Rioroute.

"SHIT!" came a loud awed cry only seconds after Rioroute had disappeared into the darkness of the goddess; the belly of the beast where certainly its epicenter lurked. Anyone could guess that the curse came from sight of the entity, though it wasn't a cry. Rioroute wasn't in any real danger, but in a gawking awe.

Erts wanted to go in right after them, but he just couldn't muster up enough to go until Rioroute's exclamation. The goddess had _spoken_ to him. In his own goddess Erts could feel strong hands helping him through every battle, but never a voice within the goddess itself! To think that such a being could communicate to him, and he wasn't even in the cockpit either! He was outside, and the thing had talked to him telepathically. Erts had never much used his power in such a way, usually only to read thoughts or completely operate his goddess's capabilities. Erts was a bit frightened of the mecha. The questions it had asked him, were deep and vague yet with a sense of importance. Erts could only guess he answered them right, though open-ended questions have no definite answer. He could hear the voice still echoing in his head. It was emotionless, like emotion in its truest form had never touched the machine, and cold, like space itself, yet distant. Erts shook off those feelings with Rioroute's remark. Erts sucked in his breath, and hurried in after his two fellow pilots.

Teela watched on silently. Like her usual nature, her face showed little emotion when not on the battlefield. She watched her comrades venture off, though she had little will to go herself. She was sure they'd pull out the pilot, and there certainly couldn't be enough room for all five goddess pilots to fit inside. She waited calmly outside with Yuu, though her mind was perturbed and chaotic.

The pilot had spoken to her, Teela had made sure of that. There was no denying it, even though the others had no memory of it, but she was the only one conscious when it happened. The pilot had addressed her, asking her if she was human. Did the pilot think that only the machine was fighting back instead of the organic fists that only used metal as gloves? Or did the pilot just not know? From what was spoken, the pilot didn't know how the word was pronounced, yet knew the meaning. But the voice was so cold, distant. . .apathetic and a bit doubtful. It was like the pilot was questioning the words they themselves had spoken instead of Teela. Yet the word was forced off their tongue, it didn't come naturally. That scared Teela. How could anything human say 'human' in such a foreign tone. What kind of animal was in the darkness she had let the others run into? Yet Teela knew they had taken that risk on their own, and she was not one to stop them. Yet she felt a twinge of envy; envy that she had not gone in first.

Unlike the usual black mass that separates the cockpit from the outside like a curtain, the copy didn't have that safety measure. Instead there was a thick door, which had opened, and a looming blackness from inside. Of course the cockpit wasn't directly in view, but it was far enough back to escape from light. The main cockpit was situated left from the entrance, and that was the direction Gareas and Rioroute turned when they saw the sight. Erts found them as statues, then leaned over to see himself, only to become another statue.

It was a horror unimaginable. The cockpit looked so foreign from the normal ones. Instead of the translucent material that bordered everything, this cockpit lacked it and had only the bare walls of the machine. Situated on those walls, in front of the pilot, were screens that glowed florescent hues. They cast the only light in the room itself, though the readouts on them was not what attracted their attention. It was the figure in the screens' light that made everything seem more morbid than the copy was itself.

It was a human, or at least something that looked human, or at least a human body.

It wasn't for sure the gender, for the face was masked with glows and the hair cut short. But the body was in a pose like it was lying down, though there was nothing underneath it. Its body was arched, the head slightly back as the back curved, and the arms spread out back like wings; like a swan emerging out of water. Though still lying on its back, the body seemed to want to curve up into a sitting or standing position.

What was disturbing was what was holding the body up. Wires. Countless wires all tangled around the limbs loosely yet freakish enough to look like they covered everything. Some were thick, like the ones connected to the arms and back, which undoubtedly supported most of the body. Then there were small and thin ones that snaked around the body. The body wasn't constricted in the wires, but more slightly tangled in them and emerging out of the mess. The wires seemed to lie on the body, yet keeping it up somehow. The wires did not just tangle around and run back into the floor from hence they came. They led up to the body, and ended. That would only be possible if they led into the body, which was the conclusion of the trio. The wires somehow went into the body, yet shed no blood.

The clothing was a thin white suit that covered the torso and only the torso. It wasn't a full body cover, but more likely something stretchable only meant to provide a means of clothing but not much protection. It was letting the wires though into the back. Erts could not see the face very well, but he could tell it seemed peaceful in the small light. The person seemed to be sleeping, or in a state of unconsciousness.

Rioroute nervously gulped, Gareas elbowed Rioroute from anxiousness. Gareas gave Rioroute a glare, baring teeth from his paranoia.

_"Because you might seem worthy. . ."_ The message from the goddess was still echoing in Erts's brain.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

_The humans are inside._

_"I know."_

_I don't like them in here._

_"They are not doing anything offensive?"_

_No, I don't trust them. . .and neither should you._

_"Whether you trust them and I trust them are two different things."_

_. . ._

_"Let me go now."_

_Please! Don't do this! Think. . ._

_"I have, please let me go."_

_You will see; you will come back crying. But you must learn what you would come back crying for, is that it? Go. . ._

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Erts's telepathy suddenly perked up. Why did he sense some telepathy going on? Could it be the pilot?

With a sudden slurp one of the wires retracted into the floor, a small one. Slowly a second one followed. Then a third. Erts could hear a define sound of the wires leaving the flesh.

_'Get what you came for_' came a voice in Erts head. Snapping out of the horror dream Erts realized that the pilot was going to fall onto the ground, or whatever. Erts quickly darted down, skidding to a halt as a thick wire pulled free. The body teetered without one of its support legs, then fell. Erts easily caught the body, but had a chilling fear he might be holding a corpse.

The last of the wires was sucked back into the floor, though Erts couldn't see them pile up anywhere; it was like they went _into_ the floor. Almost simultaneously the screens stopped glowing and clicked off. This left Gareas and Rioroute peering into darkness, and Erts holding a body he didn't fully know was human or not-or even fully unconscious.

"Erts! You alright?" Rioroute called loudly, as if he was in a cave.

"Shut up moron, we're in a cockpit not space!" snapped Gareas covering his ears.

"I'm fine!" Erts yelled back. "I've got the pilot, I'm coming out. On cue Rioroute and Gareas scampered out of the cockpit, their shoes skittering across the walkway floor. It wasn't long until Erts emerged, with a wilted body in his arms.

Rioroute and Gareas seemed to cringe back in fear, Yuu narrowed its eyes at it, and while Teela usual gaze was replaced with one of interest. Erts looked neither scared nor curious. He seemed very solemn, almost shoving away his fears to the back of his mind. He walked slowly and carefully out of the goddess, fearing the slightest sway might awaken the power he had fought against. The body didn't move, didn't react at all. It felt too wilted to have nearly beaten Teela in battle. It was only the small feel of the chest rising against Erts's uniform that made sure the thing was alive at all.

Erts walked up to Teela. "What will I do with the pilot?"

"Bring it over to the research lab," indicated Teela. Erts felt a pang of remorse for the creature when Teela said 'it'. He silently nodded, obeying orders.

Taking it the to the lab Erts noticed a few things. First were the arms that didn't hang onto his neck, which a human instinctively should. The body was either in a coma, or in very deep sleep. Also, was the hair was cut short only stopping a little above the shoulders. He could tell the hair was brown, though hadn't been cared for by its pale color. The brown was close to being beige. The hair itself reflected the body's wilted appearance, it flopped around with every step Erts took. The skin was very pale also, seeming to match the hair. She seemed to blend in more with Erts's white uniform that with his skin color.

Third was a closer look at the face. It was still peaceful, yet a bit cold. It wasn't the normal face worn in sleep, but one when a person is knocked out and made to lie somewhere. A look of old pain hidden behind calm.

Last, though Erts could not deny the urge, was the need to find out who this person was. To find out if it was a female or male, Erts discreetly tried to glance at the chest. The tight white clothing had three thick patches sewn onto it, thankfully over the private areas. There were two across the chest, from which Erts could feel and sense a define bulge. A female. Erts didn't blush, for he didn't know a female what?

"What will you do with her?" Erts asked Teela who was following behind them.

"Observe for closer study," came Teela's monotone answer.

"Somehow, I think the answers we're looking for lie within the mind of the pilot, not the body," Erts answered.

***********************************************************************************************

Well, this has been rotting away just waiting to be finished. I feel happy though, since unlike the other Pilot Candidate fics I've seen this one doesn't start with a new girl candidate entering GOA. Instead I put a bit of a twist on the usual OC's I guess. I'm really looking for criticism on this one, so any comments are welcome!


	4. Blood

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 4 Fear 

Daze and disorientation- common when waking up from a dream, or just waking up for that matter. A surreal sense of reality mixed with an inner need for fantasy. Slowly beginning the transition from one world to the next, though somewhat groggily. The blinking of the eyes, the putting on a fresh layer of water to help adjust the pupils. The fuzzy image became that of lights, many lights. Then came the blindness from staring into those lights.

She shut her eyes, cringing back from the small sensation of pain. Though small, it coursed from her head to the rest of her body until she could feel the pain in her feet for some reason. Her foot twitched slightly, though she didn't bother turning her head to see. She didn't want to open her eyes anyway.

Cautiously she opened one eye, avoiding the glare of the light. Now that the glare was cut in half from absence of the other eye she could see where the light was coming from. A ceiling, dotted with lights. She had awoken on her back.

She gazed out at the lights for a strange reason. She liked staring at them, though opening the other eye would cause pain again. She stared up at the ceiling, blinking. Slowly the brightness seemed to decrease as her eyes adjusted. She then opened her other eye, though with a little withdrawal because one eye had adjusted while the other had not. She squinted with that eye, until it came around to be fully opened.

With both eyes open came two new points of view. She opened one eye, shut it and opened another. The light seemed to move slightly between the different views. She repeated this a few times, finding some fun in it. When that was done she left both eyes open, and continued to stare upwards.

Somehow she felt as if she was doing something wrong, like she'd heard from someone not to stare into the light. She didn't know where the piece of knowledge was coming from, though there was no use tracing something you weren't sure was really there. She decided to follow it anyway, and turned to her side.

She met with a wall, a pure white wall. She blinked at it, not sure what to do now. The view wasn't more interesting than the lights. She stared at it anyway with intent observation. She saw no cracks in the wall, or any flaws or dents for that matter. The wall was a pure slate. It was calming, though a little freaky, but she didn't mind. She didn't know the definition of freaky nor did she really care at that instant. She watched, hoping for some new information to pop up and teach her something, like a child.

After a while she became aware of a few things. One was she was squishing her chest and it was getting uncomfortable. Another was she had lost feeling on her right arm and leg. She didn't notice at first, but then the numbness came up on her. It was strange how numbness was a feeling of no feeling.

Then came another thought, no, an instinct. She shifted her energy to her hips, pushing off the bed until her upper body rose helped up by her arms. She found the action exhausting for some reason, though she hadn't moved at all that much. She had to strain just to get her upper body into an upright position.

With a grunt she managed to click into a position she could stay in. She uncurled her legs, feeling blood surge into her numb leg. She then noticed a thin blanket covering her legs, though it once covered her shoulders as well. She slowly pulled the blanket off, exposing her legs. They were deathly pale. And skinny. And bony.

 But she didn't know this. She didn't know of the human standards that categorized physical descriptions such as them. She really didn't know what her legs were, other than they were connected to the lower part of her body.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Erts watched as the pilot pushed herself up, almost like an injured person in a hospital bed. She wasn't hurt, or she didn't seem so. Erts couldn't deny that she did utter grunts of effort, though for such a small task. How could something so simple take so much energy? Maybe she was just uncomfortable, since no one could be that weak, especially the pilot that had put the Goddess crew into the hospital ward.

"Freaky," commented Rioroute. "This is like watching an alien horror movie."

"Yeah, how about we see if it'll suck your _brains_ if you don't keep quiet," snapped Gareas. Rioroute pouted.

"What is it?" Yuu asked silently.

"We don't know yet," Teela answered in the same manner.

_"I don't know why,"_ Erts thought to himself, _"but I think it's human."_

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

She reached down and put a hand on her legs. Immediately she felt the sensation of her touch vibrate through her. She looked down at her arms, turning over the palms of her hands before her eyes. She took one hand and traced her arm up to her shoulder. There she could feel the ball-like joint move at her will. She could also feel the bones in her shoulder. She brought her hands up to her neck, feeling up to her face. There she ran a hand over her features. A nose. Two ears. A mouth. Two eyelids. Two eyebrows. Hair.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her legs dangled over, at the ends of them her feet, like yoyos that hadn't curled back up. She swung them in circles, watching them make figure eights. She made a faint smile, the small act amusing her.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What's it doing?" asked Rioroute pressing his nose to the glass.

"Looks like it's swing it's legs around," said Erts.

"It looks like one of us can't see," growled Gareas shoving Rioroute out of his view. Rioroute frowned.

"It's not much to see," he grumbled.

"Well it is to the rest of us," mumbled Gareas staring at the pilot again.

Rioroute frowned more. "Whatever. You guys can stare at this guy swing his legs around. I don't care. I can watch my own legs swing around whenever I want. Bye! You're going to miss lunch!"

The group only noticed Rioroute was gone when his voice faded. No one turned to watch him leave.

"I think it's a girl," Erts broke the silence.

"How can you tell?" asked Gareas.

Erts blushed slightly, not wanting to reveal the real reason of how he knew. "I think it looks like a girl."

"The hair's too short," snorted Gareas.

"Some girls have short hair."

"Yeah, but the face doesn't look too much like a girl."

"Doesn't look too much like a boy either."

Gareas snorted. "I guess so."

"Does it really matter what gender it is?" Teela stated, her monotone turning into a bored one.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

She slowly reached one of her feet down, touching the floor with one toe. A small touch, she then withdrew as if it would bite her back if she pressed too long, that and it was icy cold. She touched again, longer this time. She slowly brought the rest of the foot down, until the entire sole was the floor. She put the other one on the ground as well.

Somehow she got the idea of using her lower limbs to walk. It seemed a bit ridiculous, for they seemed very clumsy, but she knew they had to be used for movement of a sort. She recalled something about that, though it could've just been an instinct. Her feet became sweaty with anticipation and her toes curled up in waves. Her smile turned into a grin, a satisfying wide grin. She pushed off the bed, teetering on her legs like stilts. She stood there, in a bit of wonder, staring down at her feet.

Seconds later she fell over.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What'll we do with her?" asked Erts watching her sprawled figure wince slightly from the fall.

"Keep her," Teela answered monosyllabically. "Until we can get a full analysis."

"When are we going to do that?" asked Erts looking up at his superior.

Teela paused. "When Dr. Crowford thinks the time is right," she said hastily.

"No one will get near her enough to do the tests," Erts sighed after hearing Teela's thoughts.

"If you can hear my thoughts why bother asking me?" she said in a cold snap.

"Because I want to see how you word it," Erts answered backing off. "That's what I do with people."

Teela didn't answer. Erts shrugged his shoulders and watched as the pilot tried to get off the ground. She tried standing back up again, but almost fell and frantically reached out for the bed to support her.

"She doesn't know how to walk," Erts observed quietly.

"She can't stand either," remarked Yuu, a rare few words.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"And they just kept staring at her as she just sat there!" Rioroute told the repairers. "I tell ya, it's pretty stupid. Just stick some sensors in the guy and let it all be over with."

"But still," said Phil, "would you go near it?"

Rioroute gulped. "Why, of course I would," he said with false confidence.

"Uh, huh," Phil rolled her eyes.

"Anything else happen?" asked Leena.

"Nah, pilot's probably still sitting there while everybody watches," Rioroute grumbled sipping water through a straw.

"I wanna see!" squealed Phil.

"Me too!" added Leena.

"Hey! What's with all this?" yelled Rioroute as the girls ran off.

"Well the pilot's a lot more entertaining that you," teased Phil giving Rioroute a raspberry.

"Hey!" Rioroute frowned at her.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hey guys! I brought you some lu-," Rioroute said proudly as he walked in with his arms full of things from the cafeteria.

"Sssshhh," hissed Phil, "be quiet."

Rioroute sweat-dropped. "Geez, and I try to be nice too!"

"I think you should all know the goddess sustained minimal damage from the last fight," Tune spoke up quietly, though everybody heard.

The hearing of the goddess brought back memories of the previous battle, angering Gareas more. The thought of being beaten, by the pilot that appeared to be a child was humiliating enough. But the thought of just having such a person right in front of him without him doing a thing about it boiled his blood. Gareas curled his hands into fists, until he could take no more.

"Gare? Where're you going?" asked Leena as Gareas stormed past her.

Gareas stopped at the door that led to the room, the room where they held the pilot, the room behind the glass panel they were all looking through. He grabbed the knob with enough force that it even hurt him back, and yanked the door open.

"Gareas!" Leena called after him in worry, reaching out to stop him.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A bursting sound. A loud whap. She clamped her hands over her ears. The sound was so loud, too loud. She wasn't used to such loud sounds yet. It was over quickly, and the echoes soon vanished. She took her hands off her ears to see another human standing in a doorway she never realized was there before. Next to the doorway she noticed a window or something that other people we looking into. All the eyes scared her, and that small fear mixed with curiosity distracted her from Gareas until he grabbed her and shoved her to the wall.

"Gareas!" yelled another voice. She wanted to look up to see who it was, but the human who pinned her to the wall blocked all her view. She wanted to look away, very badly. His eyes pierced into her while his shoulders heaved up and down with each pant.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What is it huh? Victim pilot!" Gareas screamed at her. A few droplets of spit came out and flew onto her face, hot and sticky, which only added to her fear. She cried out in protest, doing her best to struggle against Gareas's force. He was just too strong, and she couldn't find the strength or will power to force him off. As soon as she realized she was weaker, she gave up pushing. Her head slumped down until her chin touched her chest, looking down at the floor and hers and Gareas's feet. His feet were bulging with muscles and veins that protruded out of the skin like worms. She compared them to her own scrawny, pale legs. She never had a chance of winning.

"Gareas!" yelled a voice. Before anything else could be done the force was removed from her shoulders and she slid down the wall onto the hospital bed. Her hair fell downwards, falling like the leaves of a wilted plant. From every strand came down a droplet of sweat. She could almost feel the sweat trickling down her neck and down her chin as well. She was straining every breath, hoping that would satisfy her heart's need for oxygen. It still continued to beat fast; she could even hear it now. The small beats echoed to her, reminding her of a cave somehow and a vicious beast taking steps toward her. All that drowned out the sound of arguing.

"Lay off Gare!" yelled Rioroute as he restrained Gareas.  Rioroute wrapped his arms around Gareas's shoulders in an almost headlock way, while his legs braced against the ground. It would do no good holding back Gareas's arms if he could still advance forward.

"We can't afford to hurt her!" seconded Yuu as he walked into the room and right between Gareas and the pilot, his usual calm manner a stark contrast to Gareas's current state.

"Lemme go!" screamed Gareas in rage. He could see the pilot shudder slightly from his scream. "That. . .thing nearly killed us, and you want to just let it sit here? I'll be damned if I let that thing get any closer to my teammates, no, Zion! We should kill it now, not be _observing_ it," Gareas declared with a disgusted tone.

Yuu stared back at Gareas with his usual lifeless gaze. "Restrain," Yuu stated reverting to his usual monosyllable tone. Gareas growled, but let Rioroute haul him out of the room.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

She sat there, staring down at the floor or whatever was in her line of vision. She wasn't concentrating on anything, but her eyes stayed open-just open, like doll's eyes. The only thing that did matter to her was her breathing. As much as she wanted to stop all together, all she wanted was to slow down.

With a snap she pulled her legs to her chest clutching them for all the skinny stilts were for. She dug her fingers into them, her nails being too short to cause blood to flow.

She shuddered, convulsing from head to toe. She squeezed her body as much as she could, as if by squeezing she could drown out everything else. Drown out all the confusion. Drown out all the fear.

_What happened? Who was that? What's going on? Why did it happen? What did I do? What am I going to do now?_

_I don't know._

Her arms were still sore from the human's touch, the place warmer than usual. It was also red.

Somehow, she found some kind of instruction on what to do, a hidden instinct.

She cried.

She wasn't used to such a flow of emotions. She wasn't used to this place, those people. She wasn't used to what was going on.

She wanted to hide. To go somewhere safe. Retreat into her sanctuary.

_Lady Gwenevere?_

_"__You will see; you will come back crying. But you must learn what you would come back crying for, is that it?"_

_No, I can't. I can't give up that easily. I have to go on. . .but that human. Are they all that scary? Is that what she was trying to tell me? Do I want to go back? Can I go back?_

_I don't know what's going on._

She sobbed, the warmth from her tears dripping onto her cold legs. Somehow, she could remember crying before.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What's with you guys?" Gareas roared once out of the room. "I could've finished that _thing_ right then and there."

"We have to know what it is first," Teela spoke, coldly but with a clear arguing tone.

"Why? What is there to know? It's an enemy and we have to kill it? How hard it that?" Gareas challenged.

Teela's cold stare didn't change. "That enemy is a pilot."

"An enemy pilot!"

"There are no such things as enemy pilots."

Teela's point had hit. Gareas bore down, snarling despite his usual respect for Teela. Somehow, this entire thing had challenged everything the Goddess Pilots stood for. They were supposed to kill the Victim, not shelter them!

"Whatever," he spat at Teela's feet. "Keep your little science experiment. When that things kills us all, I won't bother saving the lot of ya."

Leena stared at the scene with a look of horror and shock. What possessed Gareas to act in such a way, and give Teela such disrespect?

"Gare? Wait!" Leena called, trotting after him.

Teela looked down, Gareas's spit on her left foot. She didn't give one look of disgust, or concern. She looked back up at Gareas's retreating form, and Leena's trying to reason with him.

Teela turned on her heel and left without a word, as did Yuu after her.

Erts stared through the screen, seeing the being in a fetal position sobbing. Though that thing had nearly killed off him and his teammates, he still felt a pang of sympathy for it. It seemed defenseless, like a child in a room lined with daggers. It was deathly pale, skin so white it almost matched the color of the walls of the room. Somehow, it didn't seem as deadly as it did in its Goddess. Its arms were skinny, as were its legs, and mostly bone. How could've that thing possibly beat all five of them before?

_'Also, how did it pilot that Goddess of hers?'_ Erts thought, remembering the morbid scene within the cockpit.

He began to wonder if that girl was the pilot, or some power source.

"She seems, so scared," he whispered into the glass. She showed no sign of hearing him, and kept crying.

Erts's eyes softened. "So confused."

She lifted her head up, limp brown hair falling past her face revealing it. Her nose was red, sniffling while the corners of her eyes still had tears ready to fall. She sniffed, blinking some tears free. She looked so pathetic.

She turned, staring right at Erts.

Erts tensed, expecting some kind of death glare or laser eye blast. Nothing, but a tear smudged look.

Erts smiled, though he didn't know why. After what had happened this girl didn't deserve anything, respect or sympathy. Yet, he couldn't help but feel some kind of link to her non-telepathic.

It was then it came to him. She reminded him of how he was when he first discovered his EX. Lost, dazed, afraid. Though he wasn't sure it was the same case, he found some way to relate.

Erts gave her a comforting smile through the glass. She sniffled.

"It's ok," he told her, peering through the glass. She gave him a look of confusion, the hint of her fear from before still there.

"They won't hurt you anymore," Erts tried to comfort her. In all truth he wasn't sure they weren't going to hurt her again, but somehow it sounded like he meant it when it came out.

The girl only blinked at him, her look barely changing.

"Guess you don't understand Japanese," Erts nearly chuckled.

The whole situation in which they were talking was so alien, so unnatural, but it just felt right. He shouldn't even be talking to her, let alone trying to soothe her. All the circumstances were strange, the conversation shouldn't have been going that well.

But it was, for some reason it was.

"My name's Erts," he told her. There wasn't any guilt from telling her his name.

She didn't seem to comprehend. She continued with a blank stare.

Erts only smiled. It was almost like talking to a stuffed animal, knowing they couldn't talk back gives a kind of security. Taking his hand off the glass pane, Erts left to go find the others.

_"Arigatou."_

Erts froze, spinning around and frantically looking around.

_". . .Erts."_

Erts dashed back to the glass pane, only to see the girl had fallen asleep. He immediately tensed, the security that she would never talk back gone.

He had told her his name, she knew who he was. Erts was afraid.

Quickly beginning a jog he ran off to the find the others, to get as far away from her and to find some security.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"She doesn't do much," commented Rioroute in a casual tone. Somehow, over the course of the day, the observation of the pilot became natural.

Sure, to him she was still an alien, but it seemed more ritualistic now.

"She sleeps most of the time," sighed Phil with a bored tone. Like Rioroute, she came often to watch the pilot. It didn't seem as exciting now. "She doesn't even get out of bed."

"By the way, how do we know it's a girl?" asked Rioroute, pulling out some food he'd gotten from the cafeteria.

Phil gave him a stare for eating out of the cafeteria. "Don't know. Somebody just suggested it was."

Rioroute nodded. "Hey? Can she talk or anything?"

"Not that we've seen," groaned Phil.

"Well that sucks," Rioroute chewed. "Then why do we come here so often?"

"I. . .don't know," replied Phil with a mystified tone.

"Well, I'm going to do some training. Wanna come?"

"Sure, why not?" Phil sighed in boredom. She and Rioroute walked away.

Erts came up after them. He touched the pane softly, watching the girl on the inside. She was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Her chest rose and fell at a slow rate, almost as if she should've been asleep had her eyes not been closed.

Strangely, her nose was still red. It was a nice change though, making her seem less like a ghost.

Erts watched her, making sure she didn't know he was there. After what had happened last time, he wasn't so sure about her.

He hadn't told anyone, knowing it would just stir up trouble. Also, he didn't even believe it had happened.

Why hadn't he tried to link to her mind telepathically? Why couldn't he hear her thoughts now? Was he too afraid to listen to them? Or was it something else?

Would linking to her mind cause her to notice him? Did he dare try?

She turned her head, suddenly staring at him again. Erts backed away from the window, watching her blank stare.

There was something about those eyes. . .He couldn't tell whether it was something missing, or because there was too much hidden behind them.

Or maybe it was the person they belonged to that scared him.

Erts pressed the window one last time, his breath fogging the glass. Whatever this fear was, he had to conquer it, didn't he? Did he want to conquer this fear? Was it worth it if he did?

"Sayonara," he whispered before leaving.

He couldn't do it. For whatever reason it was, he just couldn't do it. He couldn't speak t her again, there was just too much of a risk. What that risk was. . .was in his mind. There just seemed a barrier around her in his mind, a barrier that told him to keep away. She seemed so untouchable. Why did he bother?

Yet he had, in a way, conquered something. He'd said goodbye to her, shown her some courtesy. He'd treated her like a person, he didn't know why.

Though he hadn't had a conversation with her, he'd spoken to her.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Night was a hard time to tell. There were clocks all over the station clearly told the time, but they didn't tell if the sun was up or not. Because of this the Goddess pilots had to rely on their inner metabolisms for when to sleep and wake up. Somehow, whether you got up before or after the sun rose didn't matter. Time was time, not judged by some heavenly marker.

Erts thought it was night, just because someone from the colonies once told him the sun usually set around 6. It was past six, so it must be night. The lights around the station were always constant, never going out or dimming. Thinking that it was night with all the lights around wasn't easy.

Erts couldn't remember what it was like on the colonies. That didn't frighten him as much as it did candidates. He accepted that. He couldn't remember, and he ok with that.

After all, what use would those memories have to him?

Maybe he'd go to the observation deck. Maybe he'd see Zion.

After what had happened, he swore not to waste his time watching the pilot anymore.

The hallways were pure white, as were the ceiling and floor. People wore white. The Goddesses were white. The pilot's skin was white.

Why was he thinking of her now?

Erts sighed, a good look at Zion would flush all those thoughts away. After that he wouldn't care about her anymore, or see her anymore. She'd be gone, and he'd forget all about her.

Walking up the stairs to the observation deck, Erts looked out the glass to see Zion was indeed there. A part of him longed for that planet, as did all other candidates and pilots.

Yet Erts's was a small longing, after all, he couldn't remember ever being there.

Turning from the view Erts froze.

Standing there, staring out with one hand on the glass, was the pilot. She had one hand pressed to the glass, the other pushed against it, as if she were leaning and not standing. She, too, had a longing look at that planet. Hers was different somehow. It was a distant kind of longing, not the obvious kind that you could see in a candidate's eyes when they stared at Zion. Her eyes longed for the planet, but there was no look of rapture on her face. She stared at it like an object she could never reach.

Erts had never seen anything but a blank stare in her eyes. For that moment she looked touchable, reachable, human.

For a moment she looked like a normal girl.

It was then she noticed Erts, her eyes flicking from the view and onto Erts. Though all she did was blink at him, there was a kind of fear and surprise in her gaze.

All she did was turn, not run in fright or gasp. Erts stared back at her.

Then she fell.

She stumbled and fell onto her knees. Erts nearly ran away, nearly turning and getting far away while she was obviously in some kind of distress. Even if there was a chance she wasn't human, he couldn't bring himself to ignore her. He stayed rooted to the spot, only watching her.

She clutched her side, moaning slightly, through clenched teeth, in pain. Her head bowed down, her hand clutching her side harder.

Erts shuddered, expecting some kind of monster to spring up out of her body or something horrifying like that. All she did was moan in pain, breathing raggedly.

Erts then ran to her side, something inside of him turning over in sickness from touching her. He nearly dropped her from that sickness, but managed to catch her at the last moment.

As he was helping her up she brought her hand away from her side and up to her face.

It was then Erts just knew she was human, no reading thoughts or second guesses.

Red blood coated her hand, a pool forming in the palm of her hand; human blood.

She gasped, eyes widening at the sight. Her hand began to shake, the pool of blood in her palm spilling out and onto the white, immaculate, floor. She started breathing hard, her hand going back to her side where a stain of red was growing bigger. Her thin clothing didn't do anything to absorb the blood. It seeped through easily, and was soon leaking down her legs and onto the floor. Looking down Erts saw she was also bleeding from her legs, thick rivers flowing down. Her entire lower body was covered with blood.

"WHAT THE?" In all the confusion Erts hadn't noticed Rioroute had walked in. Behind him came Teela, Yuu and Gareas. All four, even Teela, stared in shock and horror.

"Help!" Erts managed to stutter while trying to hold the pilot up. She wasn't getting any heavier, but his will to hold her up was decreasing. Blood was coming down her other arm now, flowing over his hands where he held her up. Erts nearly vomited.

"What the hell?" yelled Gareas, running in but stopping at the sight.

"F***," gasped Rioroute. He then clamped a hand over his mouth, vomit seeping out between his fingers.

Teela backed away, clutching her stomach. Her legs began to wobble, and she stumbled away. Erts had never seen that much emotion in her before.

Yuu was the only one who vomited fully. He lurched over, yellow and brown mush spilling out from his mouth and onto the floor. He then stumbled around weakly, trying to regain his footing.

Erts was really beginning to feel sick to his stomach. He was holding a bleeding body, no, a bloody body. He soon was clinging onto her for support.

He looked down at her, trying to see how long until both of them just collapsed from holding each other. It was then he saw her face, one that would haunt him forever and rival watching Victim slaughter.

Blood was running down onto her face, coming down from her hair and flowing down. There were only a few spots of white skin where the blood had not run down. Her brown hair was stained red, blood now dripping down from it. The lashes of her eyes now had a web of blood over them.

Erts fell onto his own knees, unable to take the strain and still stand. He couldn't pull away now. The blood had caked his hands and was sticking him to her arm.

Erts was scared. Suddenly the white walls became morbid, everything becoming more gruesome. A warm liquid came up into Erts's throat.

Whether it was his telepathic link, or high awareness, that caught it, Erts heard something. Frightened and panicked, Erts followed it only to come with the girl's bleeding head. Erts almost vomited on her.

_"What's she saying?"_ Erts thought, a desperate attempt to hide from the ghastly scene.

"Help me."

All thoughts escaped him. Erts listened to her.

"Help me. I need you. Please. Help me."

The hot liquid in his throat went back down.

". . .Lady Gwenevere."

Erts's eyes widened. _"Lady Gwenevere? Where have I heard that before?"_

_"Attack, Lady Gwenevere."_

__

"The Goddess!" Erts screamed. In their queasy states, all of the pilots jumped.

The next thing he knew, Erts was running to the containment room with the girl on his back. Where he had managed to gather the strength to carry her, or the fortitude to have her arms around his neck, was beyond him. Something inside him raced to the containment room. He had to get there.

She would die if he didn't, and he cared if she died.

Erts ran down the sealed doors, down the walkway. He could feel her blood soaking into the back of his uniform. He was sure he was leaving behind a trail of blood as well. He ran, the Goddesses whizzing past him.

Somehow, he got the strange feeling they were whispering to him.

Erts skidded to a halt in front of a locked door. How could he have forgotten? Had the urgency made him forget? They had put the Goddess behind a locked door that morning, behind a seal and password.

There was no time to ask anyone, they were too sick to follow behind. What could he do? What could he do? What could he do?

A bloody hand came from behind his back. Erts didn't have to look back to know whose it was. He almost expected it to clamp around his neck and strangle him.

Her finger was pointed toward the touch pad where the password could be entered. A fingertip touched lightly one of the keys, a drop of blood dripping down its surface.

The next scene was too surprising to remember or relate to a previous time. Wire from inside the touch pad came out between the keys and wrapped around her finger. Erts could only watched, shocked and amazed. Erts then realized they weren't wrapping around her finger, they were going into her finger.

With a beep the door opened, as did the wires retreat.

Erts would've stood still to give her a look of confusion, had she not been in her state and him panting. He ran into the room, motion-activated lights turning on.

There stood the Goddess, in all its eerie glory.

Erts ran, ran up the steps, ran up to the walkway. There he ran right up to where the cockpit stood, still open.

"Lady Gwenevere!" he screamed, as if the Goddess could hear him. He threw the girl right in, just ran right up and threw her. Watching her fly by Erts was suddenly reminded of his brother.

Wire flew out from the Goddess's cockpit, catching the girl in midair. They slithered around her like snakes, pulling her in. Erts was tempted to jump in a save her, but after what had happened he didn't know what was best anymore. They pulled her in, the cockpit closing behind her.

The Goddess's eyes flickered to life, a dark blue.

Erts fell down, exhausted physically and mentally. He panted, trying to regain strength and composure.

He sat there, uniform and hands soaked, resting in a pool of the girl's blood.

***************

Wow, I had to use blood way too many times in this chapter. I like the way this chapter came out actually, though the bleeding scene could've been done in a more morbid sense.

Ack, hope I didn't make anyone throw up.

Thanks to Julie!

Ttfn!


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